Closest current line to SDA

Just bought a pair of S55s since I downsized and my wife said my SDA 2As were too big. I know, big mistake. The S55s have great clarity and bass but not the depth or field the SDAs had, of course. Now I'm trying to decide if I return them and get the RTia 7 or 9, if this will get me closer to the SDA depth and breadth I loved. I'll also eventually replace my Sony 100W receiver with a dedicated 200W amp but am wondering if I should upgrade to the amp first and give the s55s another chance? Or go with the RTia 7/9 now then upgrade the amp? I'm not looking for a lot of volume, just want the depth even at a lower volume.

Comments

"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

Sweet deal on a pair of LSiM705s and a center. If that isn't for you, I think you'd notice some nice improvement moving up, Amp-wise, and keeping your S55s. However, I think you'd get further improvement with the RTiA7s and the upgraded amp. And, lastly, you'd get the most improvement out of the amp upgrade and the LSiMs. Taking advantage of the above deal, you'd also need a three-channel amp.

It's also my understanding that if you do go with the RtiA line, the 7 is as high as you want to go. I've heard from several present and past 9 owners that the 9's are very difficult to drive and even more difficult to get to sound well balanced.

LSiM is a great performer, but there is nothing like the SDA's being currently made. They were unique then and there's nothing from Polk or anyone else that gives you what they did.

2 choices, get another pair of SDA's or move on with something like the LSiM series and learn to love those. They really perform very well (above their price point), just not the same presentation as SDA's.

H9

"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass

Do we know why Polk abandoned the SDA technology? It was a game changer in the 80s - cannot believe they think today's are somehow better.

Do a search, it's been discussed ad nauseum . Too big, required too much power, expensive to build. But really from an aesthetics stand point they just don't fit anymore. They also need a proper demo and many brick and mortar stores aren't around anymore. Any being a mass producer of speakers they couldn't make them a boutique product.

SDA lives on actively in many of the sound bar units, but it's done electronically not passively. It works in the sound bars fairly well, but not like the big boy speakers of the late 80's early 90's

"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass

I had the A7s for a short time and returned for the S60s. To my ears they were much better for music and not bright. They weren’t for me but others like them for ht or tame them with amps that are on the warm side and ICs and cables.

"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

If the wife finds the SDA 2's too big, how on earth does she ok the RTIA'S , lsim's ? I think it's more aesthetics than size.

Might be time to start looking at a higher end speaker if you want that breath, depth, and soundstage back.

She's been surprisingly ok with the height. It's the width that bothers her. Kind of like me. Let me know if you've found the secret formula to figuring women out.

Ha....you betcha. In general though, women like things aesthetically pleasing. They don't want things that look old, in a room with modern furniture. They place value on looks over sound, where as men usually place sound over looks.

I'm gonna through a suggestion at you that might satisfy her requirements on width, and yours on sound.

Tekton speakers. Go to HIFI Shark and type it in, some good speaks on the used markets. Look at the Pentagon or Double impacts. Looks may not be as pretty as some others, but the sound will kick the snot out of many other more costly options. They are also easy to drive with any receiver, but most would put an amp on them anyway for the dynamic presentation.

For Polk speakers.....the LSIM 705'S is where you want to be hands down, for current models. Good luck to you.

There needs to be some give and take in a relationship IMO, it's my house as well as hers. Now I get it if you have gear everywhere and it looks like just a guys pad, but if it's placed well and you have a nice setup than there shouldn't be a problem.

My wife dosen't like the big speakers, but she is glad that I have them looking nice, and that I got rid of the wood look on them ( so am i ) but when the stereo is on she loves how they sound, and she has enjoyed it as time has gone on..

Now the HT setup she has no issues with, for one it's in the basement, second she likes the look of the LSiM's as well as the RTiA's when we had them...

So I just hooked up the A9s. Wow. Just an amazing difference from the Signature Series. They have that perfect Polk balance in tone - subtle bass that's not in your face, neutral mids and crystal clear highs. If you remove the interconnect cable from the SDAs, this is just as good.

"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

Listening to SDA's w/o the cable is NOT good (IMO). BTW, who would listen to SDA's without the cable, that's just silliness. The speakers were designed to sound their best with the cable operational. It's a huge handicap to run them without. The A9's must be lacking then.............my Modded SDA 1C's are sure lacking when the cable is unplugged.

In summary if the A9's sound like SDA's w/o the cable, then that's not a good thing and one should steer clear of the A9's

Of course you don't mention which SDA's. Each generation was different in design and how the inter aural crosstalk was handled. The last 2 generations of SDA's being the best as they had time to fine tune the system.

H9

"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass

Listening to SDA's w/o the cable is NOT good (IMO). BTW, who would listen to SDA's without the cable, that's just silliness. The speakers were designed to sound their best with the cable operational. It's a huge handicap to run them without. The A9's must be lacking then.............my Modded SDA 1C's are sure lacking when the cable is unplugged.

In summary if the A9's sound like SDA's w/o the cable, then that's not a good thing and one should steer clear of the A9's

Of course you don't mention which SDA's. Each generation was different in design and how the inter aural crosstalk was handled. The last 2 generations of SDA's being the best as they had time to fine tune the system.

H9

I think he had/has SDA-2a’s.... I found them to be nowhere near as good as later models.

Jesus Christ - I'm just trying to help anyone out who wondered how the A9s sound....didn't realize I'd get parsed and belittled like this. Awesome forum here.

To be fair the OP is looking for the depth and breadth of SDA's you say the A9's have the tone. Not exactly what the OP is looking for.

All I stated was the A9 will never sound like SDA's without the cable.

Sorry you feel ganged up on, I'm just stating my opinion based on the OP's original comments. No need to take it personally.

H9

"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass